The need for stabilization surgery does not necessarily worsen his prognosis in terms of the spinal cord injury. If surgical decompression was necessary as well, then it might. Clearly done for this season, but NFL career prognosis does not change simply because of the stabilization procedure.

Ryan Shazier is a great young man and he doesn't deserve any of this trouble. Wishing him a full recovery, and many prayers.

We gotta prepare the Steelers for the possibility that Shaz will never play again. For This Season, They already have Moats taking reps at ILB. I don't expect them to move TJ inside this season, but I do think TJ has the football IQ to make the adjustment, but then we lose TJ as an edge rusher. I do think you could plug Deebo in for the playoffs.

Right now I'm expecting Moats or Fort to start at ILB because Spence came in off the street.

This pretty just confirms what we thought when the injury happened. Anytime a guy needs to be stabilized to get carted off the field it is not only career threatening, but potentially life altering. Obviously the news today is not great. But needing stabilization surgery is whole lot better than hearing he will never walk again. We will see what the future holds as far as his playing career.

_________________Neal Huntington on what he's been told by his bosses about $$$: "We've got assurances we're going to be able to continue to do what we've done."

The announcement Ryan Shazier had spinal stabilization surgery is not a surprise and does not mean a turn for the worse.We indicated this morning this was a possibility.The necessity for the procedure indicates part of Shazier's spine was unstable and involved bone, ligament and/or disc disruption. This was always a possible cause for the spinal cord insult that resulted in at least temporary loss of feeling and movement in his legs.The spinal column houses and protects the spinal cord. Disruption of the spinal canal is what puts the cord at risk. The most likely scenario is a burst fracture at the thoracolumbar spine where the vertebral body was compressed.

Emergency surgery was not needed, as the cord was not being actively compromised. But Wednesday night’s surgery was almost certainly to prevent future damage to the spinal cord.It was likely a fusion surgery with rods, screws and/or metal cage with bone graft to fuse the unstable spine segment.Although football is not at the forefront of anyone's thoughts now, this surgery itself does not rule Shazier out from football in the future. But without a doubt he is done for the season. Fusion takes 4-6 months for recovery.The key is still the spinal cord and nerves. Are they working or not? Is there feeling and movement? Has there been early progress? Progress is key.

Our first hope is that Shazier can lead a normal life.If that happens, we can turn our attention to football questions.(If he has full neurologic recovery, no congenital narrowing issues and is in a frame of mind to do so, a return is not ruled out by today's announcement.)The best-case scenario of a spinal cord concussion and early recovery are gone. Let’s hope for the next-best possibility of a great result from surgery and full neurologic recovery over the next 4-6 months.

I almost never talk about my work at Thr Players’ Tribune on twitter, because twitter is bad, but I’m breaking that rule to tell a quick story about Ryan Shazier ...

Sean Conboy‏Verified account

@seancon 2h

Ryan came into our office because he wanted to tell his story, about growing up with alopecia from the time he was 4 years old. He couldn’t ever remember having hair, and he couldn’t ever remember a time when people didn’t troll him for it.

But as he was telling me all these stories about kids making fun of him, he was doing it with a genuine smile of his face. Not like a fake smile. Not like “I’m a millionaire now” thing. He just seemed almost indifferent to the hate.

So I said, point blank, “man, I really admire your attitude, but honestly, I don’t get it. If someone says something mean to me on twitter, even now, it’ll make me genuinely upset. How could you ignore it, especially as a kid?”

And he said, “Football. Football, bro. I just ... I just love it. I knew I could go to the football field and nothing else mattered. People could say what they want, but out there, I was gonna be a beast, you know?”

The open secret of the nfl is that a lot nfl players don’t particularly enjoy playing in the nfl. It’s incredidbly brutal and demanding. But I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who loved playing football like Shazier.

He genuinely — and I mean genuinely — wanted to tell his story so that he could make things a little better for kids (and adults) who are embarrassed about having alopecia. When he left, I said to my colleague, “that guy is just special.”

A few weeks later, Dan Rooney passed away. We were putting together a tribute for him. I texted Shazier asking if he wanted to give one of his memories. He texted me back literally 30 seconds later. “Absolutely. When?”

Ryan Shazier is the ultimate Steeler, and one of the best guys in football. Keep him in your prayers.

This is Awful news... A gut punch.I'll continue to remain positive about next year and at the very least, i'll be very happy if dude can get around on his own again. I hope i'm there when he walks back into Heinz.

I selfishly hope he never plays again. I would be uneasy watching him out there.

aren't you also uneasy about watching big hits now too? Or am I mixing you up with someone else? It might be time to just stick with the PGA.

Oh for fucks sake. Agenda much?

Dude has a history of stingers and the last injury was numbness in his arm. Could have been the same injury, only not as severe. Detailed reports suggest that once you've suffered an injury like this the chances of it happening again are high. And it might actually do irreparable damage.

I personally loved the JuJu hit. Clean. That's football.

But everybody is just soft when they show concern for a player, right?

_________________"I wish Fraudlin would get testicular cancer and die after he watches me anally penetrate his wife."

I think his career is over. He will walk away as his wife will make him see to his health for his families sake. The Steelers organization should do right by him by honoring his full contract and kick in some more to boot as he would have been a Steeler for many years to come. It's a shame as he was very talented. Had some growing to do but the athletic ability was there

I selfishly hope he never plays again. I would be uneasy watching him out there.

aren't you also uneasy about watching big hits now too? Or am I mixing you up with someone else? It might be time to just stick with the PGA.

Yeah definitely not me. I’m all for big hits and hate the way refs instinctively throw flags anytime there is a big hit. I didn’t think the Shazier hit was anything unusual. I’m just personally would be nervous watching him play knowing that he’s already suffered what seems like a serious spinal injury. I’m not a doctor so maybe my fear would be misplaced but it would make me uneasy.

Happy he’s going to be OK, but man this is a massive blow to a defense that was clicking. Completely changes the look of that unit.

Absolutely. That defense goes from an A-B+ to C unit, imo.

Has a C unit defense ever won a SB?

Last year? NE was 16th, ATL was 26th.

Did either of those teams have offenses that struggle to score the way ours does?

This is shaping up to be this year’s excuse as the middle of the field will now having even bigger holes to exploit.

Might not be much the D can do about it this year. Maybe bump Watt inside and put Harrison in outside.

Best way to really counter this is to get the offense to crank out 30+. Short of that our season continues in name only as this D minus Shazier isn’t holding a team like NE to less than 20. Would have been a tall order with him.

I almost never talk about my work at Thr Players’ Tribune on twitter, because twitter is bad, but I’m breaking that rule to tell a quick story about Ryan Shazier ...

Sean Conboy‏Verified account

@seancon 2h

Ryan came into our office because he wanted to tell his story, about growing up with alopecia from the time he was 4 years old. He couldn’t ever remember having hair, and he couldn’t ever remember a time when people didn’t troll him for it.

But as he was telling me all these stories about kids making fun of him, he was doing it with a genuine smile of his face. Not like a fake smile. Not like “I’m a millionaire now” thing. He just seemed almost indifferent to the hate.

So I said, point blank, “man, I really admire your attitude, but honestly, I don’t get it. If someone says something mean to me on twitter, even now, it’ll make me genuinely upset. How could you ignore it, especially as a kid?”

And he said, “Football. Football, bro. I just ... I just love it. I knew I could go to the football field and nothing else mattered. People could say what they want, but out there, I was gonna be a beast, you know?”

The open secret of the nfl is that a lot nfl players don’t particularly enjoy playing in the nfl. It’s incredidbly brutal and demanding. But I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who loved playing football like Shazier.

He genuinely — and I mean genuinely — wanted to tell his story so that he could make things a little better for kids (and adults) who are embarrassed about having alopecia. When he left, I said to my colleague, “that guy is just special.”

A few weeks later, Dan Rooney passed away. We were putting together a tribute for him. I texted Shazier asking if he wanted to give one of his memories. He texted me back literally 30 seconds later. “Absolutely. When?”

Ryan Shazier is the ultimate Steeler, and one of the best guys in football. Keep him in your prayers.

All the more reason this sucks. Very difficult to not only replace the athlete but also replace the athlete with true passion for his craft...

I selfishly hope he never plays again. I would be uneasy watching him out there.

aren't you also uneasy about watching big hits now too? Or am I mixing you up with someone else? It might be time to just stick with the PGA.

Oh for fucks sake. Agenda much?

Dude has a history of stingers and the last injury was numbness in his arm. Could have been the same injury, only not as severe. Detailed reports suggest that once you've suffered an injury like this the chances of it happening again are high. And it might actually do irreparable damage.

I personally loved the JuJu hit. Clean. That's football.

But everybody is just soft when they show concern for a player, right?

i was responding because someone in another thread said they can't bare to watch big hits anymore. I thought it was Art.

Do you know what a stinger is? It has absolutely nothing to do with this injury, other than the fact that they can both be caused by poor technique, which Shazier can have at times.

People that moan around about not being able to watch hits anymore because what head injuries can do to someone latter in life confuse the hell out of me. Were you so damn naive to think that bashing your head into another man until you're 35 years old is healthy for longevity in life. Did you watch boxing 15 years ago (before the CTE publicity) and think those guys won't suffer repercussions later in life? I guess I should never underestimate the naivety of people and sports. Football is the same. Actually, its not, it was MUCH worse 20 years ago in terms of brutality that it is now.

Like everyone, I hope he recovers fully. I'll cheer him whether he plays again or doesn't.